To the Citizens of Dougherty County and District 6

Because of my strong belief that the citizens of District 6 and Dougherty County deserve a choice, I have decided to become a county commission candidate for District 6 as of 10:00 a.m. , Friday morning.

As a resident of Dougherty County for over 37 years, I have watched District 6 and East Albany slip into despair and become a “dumping ground” for a number of undesirable things in Dougherty County. The District itself is riddled with urban blight (unenforced building codes), crime (gangs, drug-trade, and thugs abound), severe unemployment and poverty (closed plants and businesses), and “good ol’ boy politics” have seemed to thrive there for decades.

If any citizen of this District is happy and satisfied with the status quo (they way things are), then they should not vote for me. However, if the citizens of District 6 and the entire Dougherty County area want a change of direction and see: 1. The end of the reign of local “slum lords” and urban blight;

2. The reduction of crime, with mass convictions and banishment of criminals from the entire judicial district;

3. The incomes of County Police brought up to standards with City Police;

4. A bright light shined upon and exposing of mismanagement of government funds, corruption, and political “favors” of the past;

5. The establishment of government priorities, (as essential and non-essential services) in trimming waste from our budget as taxpayers

This seat is important not only to District 6, but to the entire Dougherty County area and the population affected by it, and we will need their support to win and change the course of Dougherty County.

About the author

Tom Knighton is the publisher of The Albany Journal. In November, 2011, he became the first blogger to take over a newspaper anywhere in the world. In August of 2012, he made the difficult decision to take the Journal out of print circulation and become an online news agency, a first for the Albany area.